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MARSEILLE - A SHIP, A VERY BIG SARDINE - AND A STEREOTYPE Did you know that in France the “Marseillais” are stereotyped as grand exaggerators? You may even hear the phrase “It’s a sardine

which has blocked the port of Marseille” - referring to this but we explain how the expression has a real-life origin that has been twisted over time. The legend is based on true events from

1780, when French prisoners captured by British forces in Pondicherry (now known as Puducherry), India, were being returned to Marseille. The prisoners were being transported towards Europe

in a ship called Le Sartine, named after the French statesman and Minister of the Navy under Louis XVI, Antoine de Sartine. After ten months of navigation, when they were just off the coast

of Gibraltar, the French captain and two other workers on board were killed by British troops on the HMS Romney due to a misunderstanding (the French captain apparently replaced the British

flag with a French one on the ship). The deceased captain’s replacement was somewhat underqualified for the job, however, as, once in Marseille, the Sartine collided with the rocks at the

channel marking the entrance to the Vieux-Port, completely blocking off all access to the port. Whether the event was such a nuisance or so comical that the story quickly made its way around

town cannot be ascertained, but over time the ‘t’ in the Sartine became a ‘d’, and the legend that “It’s a sardine which has blocked the port of Marseille” was born, cementing the

Marseillais’ reputation as extravagant storytellers. RELATED ARTICLES DANS LE VENT: A FRENCH EXPRESSION YOU MAY HEAR TODAY TOUS AZIMUTS: A FRENCH EXPRESSION YOU MAY HEAR TODAY PRENDRE SES

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